Trish Hermanson's Blog: Croutons - Seasoned Bits of Life, page 16

Can't Get Satisfied?

     I’m testing a theory here: the first chocolate chip cookie is delicious, the second is not as good, the third - I won’t even go there.     
     Ever notice that’s true about anything we take in with our senses? The first taste, touch smell, sight, or sound are great. Then those sensations either fade or gag us. Which is why Annie Dillard’s conviction makes sense, that relying on my senses to satisfy me “requires more and more” because “the life of sensation is the life of greed.”  ...

When Are Tears Good?

     My grandson’s tears provided some relief after his cousin pinched him. To experience even greater relief from pain, experts suggest we read a story about someone else’s suffering. They say emotional stories not only help us heal, they can change our brains for the better for days.     
     Book critic Kristin Lamb says that when we “vicariously experience our hurts, failures, disappointments, betrayals through another set of eyes, it’s a way of facing our villains in life.”     
   ...

What's the Worst Pain You Can Endure?

     A friend asked me what I’m learning these weeks as I hobble around with a broken foot because of a silly fall. Here’s one thing - the answer to a question that may surprise you: What is the worst pain you can endure?     
     Your own pain.     
     Some well meaning folks have reminded me that my malady “could be worse,” and I know they’re correct. But this is MY trial that I have to deal with RIGHT NOW.     
    Many of you have it much harder than I do. Some have chronic pain. S...

Got a Cop in Your Mirror?

     It didn’t take a cop in my side mirror to stop me in my tracks recently. It was a broken foot from a silly fall. Now as I lug around a cumbersome boot for six weeks, I can get pretty whiney. But I’ve discovered something that lifts me out of the dumps. And it’s all the more appropriate I practice it because the Spaniard Ignatius developed this technique nearly five hundred years ago after recovering from a leg wound.    
     Here’s my adaptation of his Daily Examen. Several times a...

What Forced Me to Slow Down

     I wish I could report that I broke my foot in a skiing accident. But no, I was making my bed, tripped on covers on the floor, and went splat! So humiliating.     
     Now for six weeks I’m modeling the Big Foot Fashion Look, wearing this cumbersome boot 24/7, and moving as slow as a slug.     
     Sometimes as I lie in bed, I yell out “BORING!” because I’m not fond of inactivity. Then I get over my whining and remember others have it much worse than I do - and sometimes for a lifet...

Do You Hear Voices?

     That’s me standing next to all 6’11” of Ervin Johnson at a volunteer gig where he kept us hustling as we sacked food for kids. Some people claim you’re loony if you listen to “voices," but not Ervin. He didn’t play basketball in high school. Then while working at a Baton Rouge supermarket for nearly three years after graduating, something strange happened - he grew eight inches. One day at work he heard a voice: “Go. Back. To. School.”     
     Ervin says, “I looked around, and no...

Dumb Luck or Incredible Skill?

     Was it incredible skill or simply dumb luck that someone tossed these sneakers onto a telephone wire in my neighborhood? Dumb luck, I think. Contrary to that, my accomplishments come the hard way - repetitive practice.     
     That’s what a young musician, violin case in hand, learned when he got lost while visiting New York City. He asked an old man, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” The man waggled his index finger at him. “Practice. Practice.”      
     How much practice? Author...

Honestly, Abe Was Depressed

     If he lived today, Lincoln would not be known as Honest Abe, but as Depressed Abe. He suffered so severely that sometimes he fell into an unresponsive, catatonic stupor even in public.   
      Lincoln certainly weathered events that warranted despondency: lost elections, the death of a child, a fractured marriage, and a fractured nation. But his gloom was so deep that today he would probably be classified as genetically or biologically depressed.     
     How did he survive? Lincol...

The Tragedy of Losing Yourself

     The moment after I told my friend Jan to smile for the camera, I showed her the photo.     
     “Who’s that?” she asked.     
     “It’s you,” I said.     
     “Really?”     
     Jan didn’t know who she was anymore. I pointed to a photo on her wall. “That’s where you taught school in the Philippines.”     
     “Me?”     
     “Then when you returned you volunteered as a hospice chaplain.”     
     “You sure?”     
     I’m sure. I’ve known Jan for years, always observing her gentle wa...

You, Too, Can Kazoo!!

     Our country desperately needs some levity these days, so let me encourage you to rush out to a music store and pick up a kazoo to celebrate National Kazoo Day on January 28. Then if you can hum the semblance of a tune, you can jam on this nifty little American instrument that’s been around since the 1840s.      
     If you can’t buy one by the 28th, no worries, because the date for celebrating occurs anytime near the end of January - whenever it’s convenient for kazoodaphiles. “We...